“I am appalled by the cruelty the Trump Administration has demonstrated over the past 24 hours. By indefinitely suspending the Syrian refugee program and imposing a religious test at our borders, he has defied everything our nation stands for. He’s also weakened our national security by empowering ISIL’s narrative that the West is at war with Islam and encouraging Muslim countries to further cooperate with adversaries like Russia and Iran. For decades, America has acted as the Good Samaritan and extended a welcoming hand to those who yearn to be free. We should continue to thoroughly vet all refugees who enter the United States, but we cannot abandon our core principles. If we turn our backs on widows and orphans fleeing the very evil we despise, we do not defeat our enemies; we surrender to them.

“It is also incredulous that at the same time the President is asking the Pentagon for new options to defeat ISIL, he is banning Iraqi refugees from entering the country. The government of Iraq is our ally in the fight against ISIL. Its troops fight alongside ours. Its interpreters risk their own lives and the lives of their families to protect U.S. personnel. It undermines our national security and endangers our soldiers to have our Iraqi partners and other Muslim countries distrust our commitment and motives. President Trump said he was ‘totally against’ the U.S. invasion in 2003, which led to Iraq’s destabilization and the rise of ISIL. I guess he is not ‘totally against’ leaving its people to suffer the consequences.”

Just yesterday, President Trump issued an executive order halting immigration into our country because of baseless fear,s division and prejudice. In his first full week in the White House, President Trump has managed to undermine what makes America an exemplary nation.

In response to this order, Congressman A. Donald McEachin (VA-04) issued this statement.

“With the issuance of this executive order, President Trump has destroyed his moral authority to govern. The Declaration of Independence says all men are created equal. Our Constitution says we shall not favor any religion over another. And yet, the president has instituted a religious test for entry into this country.

“Moreover, and every bit as tragic, as the words inscribed on the statue of liberty remind us “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” this is a country of refugees From the Separatists who landed in Plymouth almost four hundred years ago, through the a kaleidoscope and fabric of immigrants and refugees since then, this country has bene built by hard-working families coming to make a better life.

“Every time we close our doors and rank people by religion or color or country of origin, it ends tragically, whether it is the genocide of Native Americans, the enslavement of Africans, the internment of Japanese-Americans and the slamming of the doors on European Jews and others who tries to escape the conflagration of the Fuhrer’s reign

“And for those who somehow think our own history and our own sacred documents are insufficient, for those who follow a Judeo-Christian tradition, make no mistake, our shared Bible is very clear on this. Either Leviticus 19:34, reminds us to treat the stranger as the native-born or Genesis 18:1-5 where Abraham, the father of three major religions, runs to greet the stranger and invite him into his tent to share what he has.

“This executive order will continue to separate and destroy working families who call America home. Refugees with no safe haven who seek to find both safety and security here should not have to experience baseless challenges. Individuals who are immigrating to America through the legal process in-place, should not be turned away

“None of us can and should sit by idly while this anti-American immoral executive order is put into effect. I ask the President to repeal it and I ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to use all suasion and legal authority to remove it.”

AG Mark Herring: “This order is in direct conflict with the most foundational principles of our country and our Commonwealth. For generations, the United States has been a beacon of hope and a safe harbor for those in need. President Trump is dimming that light and slamming the door in the face of vulnerable people fleeing unimaginable circumstances. He is also sending a terrible signal to minority communities that they too could be the target of his ire and telling Muslims in Virginia and around the country that they are inferior because of their faith. That is simply shameful.

“Along with Gov. McAuliffe, my team and I are closely examining this order, something President Trump and his administration apparently failed to do before issuing it, and exploring any options we may have to oppose this un-American, discriminatory, and misguided action.”

Dave

Take a look at whats happening in Europe Dummy, We will not tolerate the Islamization of America. Go TRUMP.

“I fully support Governor Terry McAuliffe, Attorney General Mark Herring, and the many people today at Dulles Airport in standing with Muslims and other immigrants. Our founding fathers created this country based on principles of inclusion of all faiths and backgrounds. Virginians have big-hearts and strong communities. We are welcoming people who are blessed to count many people of different backgrounds as our neighbors.

“As a former member of the Virginia Tourism Corporation Board, our slogan ‘Virginia for Lovers’ is what we live. Virginia is not for haters and bigots. President Trump’s executive order is just plain wrong.”

Today I shed a tear for the country I know and love, the one I believe still beats in the heart of most of its citizens.

The United States became the most powerful nation in the history of mankind not merely on the basis is its fearsome military, as lethal and well trained as that may be. It wasn’t solely based on its unprecedented economic engine, as dynamic and far-reaching as that may be. America’s greatness was forged by a Constitutional compact of grand and universal ideals that the country has tried to live up to ever since.

For generations, we have been an imperfect but vital beacon of freedom to a world too often wandering and failing in moral confusion. But that ultimate strength has dimmed considerably in light of the recent actions on immigration from the new President Donald Trump. We are turning around desperate refugees. We are singling out men, women, and children on the basis of their faith – and we are doing all of this with a randomness and capriciousness that defies reason.

A colleague of mine used the term “heartless” to describe so much ot the President’s executive actions. Sadly, I found it an apt and dispiriting diagnosis—especially when faced with the results of his executive order on immigration. For over the years, I have seen that our greatest American leaders extol empathy rather than condemnation. They have known that in a complicated world, it is best to make policy choices with a scalpel – not a hacksaw. Sometimes, when our national security is threatened at the level of World War II, all-out conflict is the only recourse. But those instances are by far the exception.

From Vietnam, to the Iraq War, from Japanese internment camps to the centuries-long persecution on the basis of race and ethnicity that almost toppled our democratic experiment, broad strokes channeling our least compassionate and most jingoistic impulses have always made us weaker rather than stronger.

Today, in the wake of his one-man decision to wreck and reverse immigration policy so suddenly, there is chaos and confusion mixed with heartbreak and fear. A well thought-out, measured overhaul of immigration policy, with organized-in-advance measures to implement that is one thing—and one that perhaps a majority of Americans would support, But this mess, created overnight, is quite another. With this, we have embolden our enemies who want to see nothing else than to compete in a world of moral relativism. In the Cold War, our struggles over civil rights fed into the propaganda of the Soviet Union – as our new actions fuel the extremism Mr. Trump claims to be attacking.

Too many people during the campaign explained away Mr. Trump’s irresponsible rhetoric as metaphors and euphemisms. These are not concepts he understands. Serious foreign policy experts know that this is a boon for our enemies and undermines our democratic principles. But too many Republican leaders in Congress, even ones that denounced the Muslim ban during the campaign, stand by cheering it now. History will mark their names, as it marks this moment.

This will be challenged in the courts, who may very well strike it down. But damage, real damage, has been done to our global image. I believe Vladimir Putin is smiling, and would-be global powers like China see a vacuum forming that they will be eager to fill.

I still remain optimistic that the vast majority of American people will recoil and speak out at this unwise policy. But whether we like it or not, as the detentions and impediments already springing up make all too real, this is the stated de facto policy of the United States today. Every day that it goes on, every day the chaos, confusion and heartbreak deepens, America loses more pieces of its soul and standing in the world.

We’ll soon find out if Ryan, McConnell et al meant what they said when they swore an oath to defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I’m not holding my breath….

TheKingJAK

“Muslim ban”? Hardly. We are talking about seven out of fifty total Islamic nations (i.e., 86% of Islamic countries/90% of Muslims are not impacted by this), therefore it is hardly a “Muslim ban”. Let’s be realistic here, and criticise based upon facts.

AerosM

Get a Writ of Habeus Corpus from the State Courts Governor.

These people are being held on Virginia soil, and are likely Virginia Residents. This gives Virginia soil and blood jurisdiction for its courts to intervene. Unless the Federal Agents have a formal arrest warrant to hold these people, they cannot lawfully hold them against the wishes of the State court and its officers.

AG Mark Herring statement on Temporary Restraining Order entered in the Eastern District of Virginia by Judge Leonie Brinkema: “President Trump clearly never gave a second of thought to how his discriminatory, un-American order would actually play out on the ground. I’m really glad we were able to help get this matter before a judge tonight so her restraining order could put a stop to the expulsions and give affected individuals an opportunity to speak with their lawyers. In the meantime, we will continue to explore any legal options available to the Commonwealth to oppose this misguided effort.”